


Breaking Before Bending

by Lavavulture



Series: The Sea Is Changeless (But People Are Not Fish) [2]
Category: Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Angst, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Light BDSM, M/M, Relationship Negotiation, Spanking
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-28
Updated: 2015-05-09
Packaged: 2018-03-20 00:03:30
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 16,650
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3629187
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lavavulture/pseuds/Lavavulture
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After the Iron Bull was forced over a line with Cole thanks to lecherous slavers, he hopes that everything can just go back to normal.  He forgot that normal and Cole don't exist in the same atmosphere.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Struggle Is an Illusion

**Author's Note:**

> I'm not sure that I know where this is going but I'm enjoying the ride. Hopefully other people will as well.

“How’s your head, Boss?” Iron Bull asked Lavellan, more to break the uncomfortable silence in the tent than from real concern. Certainly the Inquisitor had seemed recovered when he’d angrily shoved the bodies of all the slavers into a huge pit with his magic. Varric had been staring at Iron Bull the whole time, rubbing the trigger of his crossbow like a promise.

“It’s fine,” Lavellan said curtly but he said everything curtly. He finished bandaging Iron Bull’s raw wrists. “You’re fine. Why don’t you get something to eat while I look Cole over?”

“I feel fine,” Cole said, sitting on Lavellan’s cot and kicking his legs out rhythmically. Iron Bull wanted to go back to that pit and throw himself into it every time he looked at him. The cut on his cheek stood out vividly against his pale skin. Iron Bull wanted to run his tongue over it until he reached his kiss-swollen mouth. 

Iron Bull wanted to rip his tongue out and set fire to it.

In contrast to his emotional turmoil Cole really did seem fine. He’d limped his way back to camp in a way that made Varric’s constant glares seem incredibly justified but otherwise he acted like nothing had happened. Iron Bull had expected the unexpected from Cole, something as weird and unsettling as him, but the kid acting relatively normally was not anything he could have predicted.

“I’ll tell you if you’re fine.” Lavellan sounded stern but Iron Bull knew the cranky elf well-enough by now to know that he was worried. “And you’re taking a bath.”

“But I took one before we left,” Cole protested. The tidy Inquisitor’s baths were legendary for their thoroughness. He thought that all non-elves (and Sera) were constantly filthy.

“You’re taking another one.” Lavellan’s eyes shifted briefly over to Iron Bull, who was standing awkwardly at the tent entrance watching their exchange. “You smell like a wet dog.”

Iron Bull was impressed that Lavellan had shown enough restraint to not say what Cole really smelled like. He could smell himself on Cole from across the camp, a sharp and bitter smell that usually made him horny as fuck when he smelled it on the pretty barmaids of the tavern. It still made him feel horny as fuck but it also made his stomach roll like he was going to throw up.

When he finally left the tent to the sounds of Cole obediently acquiescing to the Inquisitor’s demands he saw Varric sitting on a log in front of the fire. He was cleaning Bianca with slow, careful movements and the look on his face was openly devastated. He glanced up when Iron Bull sat across from him and the devastated expression folded back into the hostile glare he’d been getting some practice on.

“Knock it off, Tethras,” Iron Bull said finally, dishing out healthy portion of the dinner stew although he couldn’t imagine eating it. “You’re acting like I planned the whole thing.”

“No, but you sure didn’t put up much of a fight.” Varric set his crossbow down and templed his fingers together. “I guess you thought it was the easiest thing to do.”

“I thought I didn’t want to see the kid get gang-raped in front of me after they cut your throat,” Iron Bull said and almost flinched at the same time Varric did. He sighed heavily, setting his bowl down.

Varric swallowed hard and crossed his arms. “You could have tried a little harder to talk your way out of it. Aren’t spies supposed to be good at that sort of thing?”

“Like you tried? Look, Varric, I get it. You feel guilty. You took that kid under your wing like a proud Tamassran and when things got hot, you couldn’t protect him. Don’t put it on me. I did what I had to do to for everybody and Cole understood that.” Iron Bull stood up. Everything that he was saying was perfectly true but they felt like weak excuses in his mouth. “I’m going to sleep.”

“Wait,” Varric grumbled. He was staring hard into the fire when Iron Bull turned back around. “You’re right. I convinced Cole that being more human was better for him and then this happened. My friends keep paying the price when they listen to me and I’m sick of it.”

“It could have been worse,” Iron Bull said tightly, not really wanting to help Varric open up this wound. The dwarf had been raw since Hawke had stayed behind in the Fade.

“True. Much worse. At least it was someone he trusts. And with someone who really knows what they’re doing. That’s better than most first times.“ Varric finally raised his eyes to Iron Bull. “Whoever he gets interested in for real is going to be in for a surprise following you.”

“Yep,” Iron Bull said in a flat voice. “Good night, Varric.”

“Good night, Tiny,” Varric said and offered him something that might have been a smile under normal circumstances.

In his tent Iron Bull lay on his bedroll and stared up at the patched ceiling. His and Varric’s words were rolling around in his head like a violent storm. He was sure Cole had understood why he’d made the decision he did and with his freaky mind powers he probably understood it better than Iron Bull did. He wondered if Cole knew how much he’d enjoyed it, if he’d know how he couldn’t get the images out of his head, of Cole’s welcoming body and the naked pleasure on his face. He’d seemed to like it so much more than Iron Bull would have ever thought that he would.

“I did like doing that with you, The Iron Bull,” Cole said out of nowhere in the dark. 

Iron Bull’s reflexes made him both lash out and hold back so that he was left clutching the collar of Cole’s shirt tightly in one hand while the other shot past his head to push into the tent wall. He was lucky he didn’t put a hole in it.

“Don’t sneak up on me like that, Kid. I could have knocked your head off,” Iron Bull said in a fierce whisper.

“No, I’m much faster than you. I would have ducked.” Cole settled down into a more comfortable position next to Iron Bull’s bedroll and put his hands in his lap. He seemed to be waiting for something.

“What are you doing in here?” Iron Bull was suddenly too aware of Cole’s clean, wet body. He clearly hadn’t bothered to dry himself off before he’d gotten dressed. It should have made him look like a drowned rat with his ragged hair and sharp face but instead Iron Bull’s gaze was drawn to the way the more casual linen shirt clung to his collarbone and stretched too wide across his shoulders. It obviously belonged to the smaller Inquisitor.

“We share a tent,” Cole told him, which was true but clearly beside the point. They shared a tent because Iron Bull was big and it gave him more room to share with someone that usually didn’t stay in it.

“You don’t need to sleep. Why don’t you help the night watch? I’ll bet they have some dark, sad shit they’d like you to tell them about.”

Cole shook his head slightly. “I want to be here with you.”

He put one of his hands on Iron Bull’s shoulder and leaned over. “I can try to do some of those things. Stomach to stomach, rubbing together before Tama came back, forbidden and better for it.”

“Fuck.” Iron Bull started, jerking his shoulder away. “We are not doing that.”

“Why?” Cole asked, disappointed.

“Because you’re a weird spirit-thing and I just had to rape you in front of ten guys earlier today. How can you even think about that right now?” Iron Bull glanced towards the tent flaps and wondered when in his bad luck Varric was going to come in wanting to play a conciliatory game of Wicked Grace.

“Varric is sleeping, quiet and still in the stone after the day churned and ached. Lavellan wanted me to stay with him but I took his bath and I do feel fine. It doesn’t really hurt anymore.” Cole’s hands had gone back to his lap and he was fitfully pulling on his sleeves with one. “The ache reminds me of the pleasure.”

“What makes you think that I want that again?” Iron Bull asked sharply and grimaced. “Don’t answer that.”

“I’m sorry that they hurt you,” Cole said carefully. “It feels like guilt and a violation in your head but I wasn’t unwilling. I wanted all of the things that you promised inside.”

Iron Bull breathed out hard through his nose. It would be so easy to give in again. Cole was inhuman and frightening but he would feel like warm, eager flesh under him, around him. He could slide him underneath and do it right this time, teasing until Cole was begging for him.

“Yes, you would weigh my body down into just flesh until the song came from me instead of from everyone. I like the song that’s mine.” Cole leaned forward again, this time pressing his cheek to Iron Bull’s chest. “I never noticed my heartbeat and my blood until you made them both obey you. I can obey.”

Iron Bull stared at the man clinging to him like he had any answers at all and felt something in him shift. He didn’t know if it was the weakest part of him but it was part that had been making all of his choices since he’d left his homeland. It was the part that had chosen his men over his people and it was the part that knew he would follow the Inquisitor into deeper heresy.

“Listen to me,” Iron Bull said, stunned at the strong tone in his voice. Cole looked up at him, his face wet. “I need some time to think about this and I want you to think about it. You’re young. Kind of. Just because I’m the first person to make you feel this way doesn’t mean I’m the only one who can. You can have other options.”

He put his hand on Cole’s cheek and gently traced the cut on his cheek with his thumb. Cole leaned into his touch and closed his eyes. Reluctantly Iron Bull drew his hand away.

“If you still feel this way when we get back to Skyhold, we can talk about it. Do you understand?”

“Yes,” Cole rubbed his eyes. “Can I still stay here with you tonight?”

“Nothing is going to happen,” Iron Bull warned but settled back down onto his bedroll. Cole eagerly pressed his long body against him and tucked his face down into his shoulder.

“I’m not going to change my mind, The Iron Bull,” Cole said very quietly.

“Let me sleep, Kid,” Iron Bull said and wrapped his arms around the warm weight of Cole’s body. It felt good. He breathed in the still faint scent of himself in Cole’s skin as he fell asleep.

The next morning Cole was gone, which wasn’t incredibly surprising considering that he didn’t need to sleep and a night was a long time to just lie there. However Iron Bull felt slightly annoyed that he’d made such a big deal about being with him but had left so easily.

He left in tent in an irritated huff, taking some of men by surprise with the glower on his face. Cole was sitting very still next to Lavellan as the Inquisitor carefully applied a white paste to his cheeks and chin.

“This will keep you from burning while I study the temple entrance,” Lavellan told Cole, who nodded somberly.

“I don’t want to burn,” he told him.

“We’re still going to study that damn temple, Boss?” Iron Bull asked in disbelief. Varric glanced up at him from his breakfast, agreement clear in his eyes.

“It’s why we came out here,” Lavellan said, not looking at him. “We’re not turning around and going back home just because we ran into some shem slavers.”

Iron Bull felt a growl growing in his throat and he swallowed hard. “Fine. Let me know when you’re done playing with old rocks.”

“Bull!” Lavellan called after him as Iron Bull stomped away. He didn’t stop.

He spent the rest of the day terrorizing oversized nugs and fat spiders. It wasn’t enough to ease the tension tightening his shoulders but he didn’t think about the Inquisition or anyone involved in it the entire time. When he returned to camp that night he managed a conciliatory nod at Lavellan, who nodded back. Cole was off by himself a bit, kneeling by a large plant that glowed slightly in the fading light. He was very carefully touching the tip of the plant’s flower with his index finger.

“That usually only reacts to magic,” Lavellan said, his tone almost cheerful. He loved magical mysteries. Iron Bull wondered if he and Dorian whispered bits of their magical theory books to each in bed instead of sweet talk. “It must glow in the presence of the Fade.”

“It remembers when the sky was streaked with power and everything drank from the same source.” Cole pressed more firmly against the flower and smiled slightly, wrapping his other hand around his bent knees. “I used to remember but I forgot when I made this body my home.”

“Fantastic,” Bull said and then felt like an asshole. Cole didn’t need his sarcasm. Of course Cole didn’t really seem to notice his sarcasm if the bright face he directed towards him was any indication. 

That night Cole slipped into his tent once again and curled up against him, sweet as a friendly puppy. His face was still lightly streaked with that white paste and he rubbed it into Bull’s shoulder as he nuzzled him. Without thinking about it Iron Bull reached up, cupping Cole’s head in one large hand and stroking slowly with his thumb. Cole sighed happily, his eyelids falling low as he traced a scar on Bull’s chest with his index finger.

“I won’t glow,” Iron Bull said. He felt a little foolish a moment later but Cole just smiled up at him.

“You would glow on the inside if I used my tongue instead,” Cole said languidly. “Your neck would shiver and the skin would feel tight like when it first healed.”

Iron Bull grunted because that was true and it had been what he’d just been thinking about. “You need to learn to filter a little, Kid. You don’t have to say everything you see in my head.”

“I like what’s in your head,” Cole said, his voice low and thick with promise.

There was nothing he could say to that so Iron Bull just grunted again and closed his eyes. He tried very hard in the time before he fell asleep to think of nothing at all.

Lavellan was apologetic when Iron Bull emerged from his tent the next morning.

“I want to make one more rubbing of the entryway.” Lavellan was already packing his bag. “Then we can go home.”

Iron Bull shrugged, his ire from the previous day gone. “Rub away, Boss. Maybe Dorian will hang them up in his library and show everyone your work when they came by.”

Varric snorted and Lavellan blushed slightly under his tattoos. The elf mage was sweet to watch around Dorian. His normally cranky demeanor would fade into doe-eyed adoration that was only matched by Dorian’s suggestive devotion.

“You don’t have to come with me,” Lavellan said stiffly, still blushing under his long collar. “Varric can help. I don’t really know where Cole has gone. He told a scout that he wanted to explore.”

Lavellan frowned a little deeper than usual at that admission.

“I’m sure he’s close,” Varric said but he also looked worried. “He knows he’s not supposed to go too far on his own.”

“I’ll keep my eye open for him. He wouldn’t leave the perimeter of the camp.” Iron Bull glanced around the lush wetland of the Forbidden Oasis. There were all sorts of nooks and crannies that a sneaky spirit like Cole could be lurking around in, probably watching the fat nugs waddle around and beaming at them with gap-toothed delight.

Lavellan nodded and picked up his bag. He and Varric headed off towards the tunnel that would lead them to the Temple of Pride’s entrance. Once he was alone Iron Bull rolled his tight shoulders and went off to do his own exploring.

After an hour he didn’t find Cole but he did stumble on a large natural hot spring, hidden away from view of the camp. He contemplated it for a long moment before deciding that he could really use a nice soak. He stripped down to his bare skin with little hesitation and sank into the blessed warmth of the water. 

Iron Bull sat for a few wonderful moments, letting the water soothe his aching muscles. He rolled his shoulders again and took stock of himself. He hadn’t had much of a beating this trip, all things considered. Thanks to the Inquisitor’s healing hands his wrists were almost healed. He rubbed the marks lightly and then sank lower into the water. Thinking about the injuries unfortunately reminded him of what had tensed him up so badly in the first place. 

Still the memory did send an unwanted spike of arousal through him that was supported by the soft caress of the warm hot spring jets. Thinking of that day also made him think of every night since then and of Cole’s long body pressed invitingly against his own.

Involuntarily Bull reached for his cock and he paused a moment, his thumb near the head. There was nothing wrong with a man enjoying himself when he was alone. He didn’t need to feel guilty. 

Iron Bull brought up the catalog of sexual fantasies that usually helped him in these moments. Those sexy red-headed dwarves kissing in Dagna’s workshop. The War Council coming together to plan a new, erotic battle plan. The Inquisitor and that hot mage Vint rolling around on Lavellan’s big Orlesian bed. He let out a low huff as he hardened under his hand and his fantasy spun into his most recent sexual encounter, Cole clutching the bars of the cage and moaning like he was in the best sort of pain as Iron Bull pushed into him. 

“Why doesn’t it feel like that when I try to do it?” Cole asked him, once again out of nowhere.

Iron Bull jumped in the water and then glared at the kid, perched at the edge of the hot spring like it was a chasm. His hands were clasped around his bent knees as he openly looked at Iron Bull.

“I’m going to put a bell on you if you don’t knock it off with that sneaky shit,” Iron Bull said, pulling his hand away from his still-interested erection. He didn’t bother to hide himself from Cole’s curious eyes.

Cole leaned his head to the side and Iron Bull was suddenly struck with the image of him wearing a collar with a little bell. It was rather cute. “A bell would only make a noise if I wanted it to. I wouldn’t.” 

“What have you been doing? You’ve gotten Varric and the Boss real worried.”

Cole suddenly lowered his head, as though struck by shyness and he let his fingers trail through the hot water slowly. His hat covered most of his face as he spoke, “I was exploring, touching soft parts and trying to find hardness but nothing listened to my hand the same way it did with yours.”

Iron Bull narrowed his eye as he tried to decipher what Cole was saying. “You were touching yourself? Like I was?”

A slight nod.

“And you couldn’t get yourself off?”

An even slighter one. “It just felt like a hand rubbing, like cleaning in the silver bath behind the mountain windows.”

“Does the Boss actually give you a bath?” Iron Bull asked eagerly, a new fantasy rapidly coming to life behind his eyes.

Cole looked at him oddly. “No. I bathe myself.”

“Oh,” Iron Bull said, deflating. His mind finally latched onto the image of Cole trying to masturbate in some cave tunnel, straining all morning but unable to make himself come. His cock pulsed with renewed vigor at the idea. He licked his lips and made a decision. “Why don’t I see what you’re doing? I can give you some pointers.”


	2. The Tide Rises, the Tide Falls

Cole nodded, his eyes wide with surprise. Wisely he didn’t comment on Iron Bull’s request but simply began to strip off his clothes. Anybody else would have made a show of undressing in front of an aroused person they wanted to bed but Cole slipped things off in whatever way was easier. He carefully set his hat down on the ground but everything else was stretched too far as he yanked it off and let it stay wherever it fell.

Once he was naked Iron Bull could admire his sleek body for a second time. He didn’t have the Vint mage’s gorgeous body, carefully developed over years of selective breeding and intentional maintenance, or the Inquisitor’s lithe elfin form, slim and unmarked from years of casting magic at a distance. Cole had the firm, compact muscles of someone who could run for hours and the ragged scars of a rogue who fought in an intimate reach. He didn’t have the Iron Bull’s motley assortment of battle scars, but what he had still gleamed brightly on his pale skin.

He was curled in on himself a bit on the ground. Iron Bull didn’t think it was from a desire to hide his body from another person’s eyes, but rather a lack of awareness regarding how he was presenting it.

“You’re hurting my back looking at you, Kid. Get in the water.” Iron Bull swung one of his arms up onto the ground above him, letting his own large body relax out into the water. “Stay on your side though.”

“It would be easier if I was on your side,” Cole protested, eying him doubtfully. “I could sit in your lap like the red-headed barmaid with the cold stepmother. They don’t understand each other.”

Iron Bull shifted a bit when his cock responded positively to the idea. He held up his hand. “You’re staying right where you are. This is purely instructional. Think of me as your temporary Tamassran.”

“Tama sings at night when the shadows grow too long. Sometimes the song finds its way under breath when no one is around and it feels like home.” Cole slid into the water in a quick movement, barely disturbing the surface when he broke it.

“Not that kind of Tamassran,” Iron Bull said sharply. He jutted his chin out at Cole. “Now, what were you doing earlier? Show me.”

Cole nodded and immediately reached down for his cock. He started rubbing himself at a harsh pace that made Iron Bull wince a bit just watching him. Cole’s eyebrows were narrowed in curious contemplation as he watched his own movements.

“Stop!” Iron Bull grunted when Cole froze, his hand still pressed hard against himself. “You’re terrible at that.”

“I’m doing what you did,” Cole protested, lowering his head. “At the end when there were lights behind my eyes and everything tightened everywhere like a thread pulled too far.”

“It’s different when you’re almost ready to pop. You can’t just jump right to that part. You have to work your way up to it.”

Cole frowned. “But I liked that part the best.”

Iron Bull grinned despite himself. “Most people do. But the build-up is nice too. You have to tease a little bit. Especially when you’re just starting out. It’ll show you what you like.”

“How do I do that?” Cole put both his hands on his knobby knees and leaned closer to him like an excited student.

“Explore yourself a bit. Lots of people don’t know anything about their own bodies. It’s shameful. Touch other parts than just your dick. Go slow. Think about doing something dirty. Or someone doing something dirty to you.”

“Like you?” Cole spread his legs apart a bit in the water. “Like when you were inside of me?”

“You can use that.” Iron Bull licked his lips, tempted to take that invitation. “But you can think of anyone, doing anything. It’s all in your mind. Nobody but you will know it’s there.”

“I know what’s in everyone’s mind. I used to look more at the parts that made them feel warm and ashamed but Varric said it wasn’t polite. I try not to now but it’s hard because for so many people it’s close to where their hurt lives.”

“Yeah, _bas_ usually have fucked-up issues with sex. You don’t have to just because they do.” Iron Bull scratched around his left horn. He did feel like a Tamassran and it was weird. “You can think of whatever you like, whoever you like.”

“I like you,” Cole assured him promptly, sitting up straighter in his eagerness.

Iron Bull growled. “But you already know what it’s like with me. I mean, trust me there’s more here, but fantasies let you be with people you’ll never get to fuck.”

Cole still looked uncertain so Iron Bull pursed his lips and tried to think of who the squirrelly kid might go for other than him. “What about Varric? You’re always hanging out with him. Maybe a game of Wicked Grace goes too far one night and you get to find out how far down that chest hair goes.”

“No.” Cole shook his head hard at the idea. “Varric wouldn’t want that.”

“That’s not really the point, Kid.” Iron Bull rubbed his eyes. The headache forming was a problem but he almost welcomed it. “It’s about what gets you off. But fine, not Varric. Maybe Solas. He acts like he knows everything. He probably knows how to do some freaky shit with a spirit.”

Cole considered it a moment and then shook his head slowly. “I don’t think that I would want that.”

“Not your type, huh?” Iron Bull rolled his large shoulders and really thought. Cole seemed to respond well to a firm hand so bossy Lavellan might be a possibility. But the little elf was shy when it came to sex and he couldn’t see him really taking the lead in the bedroom. That was probably more Dorian’s side of things.

Dorian was an interesting idea. Iron Bull knew he wouldn’t mind taking the mouthy Vint down a peg or two or three and he certainly was gorgeous enough to make even a good spirit think wicked thoughts. However Dorian was like a sexy peacock, preening in the hopes that someone would confirm what he already knew to be true. He thrived under Lavellan’s open adoration but Iron Bull didn’t think he was the type to really dominate another person.

Cassandra? She was certainly commanding and passionate. But too impatient and eager to lose her temper. Vivienne? Iron Bull felt hot with nervousness even attempting to think about her that way, especially in connection to Cole. 

Cullen? Cole made a noise as the thought passed through Iron Bull’s mind and he narrowed his eye at him. “You eavesdropping on me, Kid?”

“You’re thinking so much, all the pieces like a puzzle with one side missing.” Cole pulled his long legs up to his chest and rested his chin on his knees, sloshing water around him quietly. He was looking away when he softly said, “Cullen isn’t empty inside like some Templars.”

Bingo. Iron Bull smirked a bit and he let himself slouch even more insouciantly in the spring. It made sense. Cullen was strong, even-tempered, and good-looking without even trying. He was perfect first time material. His own first time had probably been saccharine sweet with some pretty, doe-eyed girl who probably still thought of him on cold nights.

“No,” Iron Bull said slowly. “Cullen’s a real nice guy. I’ll bet he’s a considerate lover, maybe even a little gentle. But not too gentle. He’s a Templar. They’re used to being obeyed.”

Cole pressed his cheek to his arm and Iron Bull saw the red flush creeping up his neck. He allowed himself a brief moment to wonder how far down that flush went before he forced himself back to the matter at hand.

“You like that idea, Kid?” Iron Bull let his voice drop down into a low, insinuating rumble. “Would you like our Commander to give you a few commands?”

“I don’t know,” Cole said almost reluctantly, still pressing his cheek to his arm like it was hiding him away from the idea.

“I think you do. I think you want the Commander to tell you what to do for a little bit. It’s hard being a real person, isn’t it? There are so many choices, so many ways to go wrong. It’d be so much easier if the good, strong Templar held you down and made you listen just to him.” Iron Bull watched in satisfaction as Cole shivered in the warm water. “You’d be safe obeying him. He’d never tell you to do the wrong thing.”

“Yes, Cullen worries, wrings his hands when the pain flares under his skin but he never falters or falls,” Cole said in a breathless rush. “The lyrium is humming in his veins but he won’t listen to it because he wants to be stronger than its call, stronger than his past mistakes. He’s a good man.”

“What would you like that good man to do to you?”

“I want,” Cole wrapped his arms tighter around his knees and closed his eyes. He sounded almost shy. “I want him to kiss me, like he wanted to kiss her in the Circle, soft and sweet, a promise of protection.”

Cole pressed his fingers to his lips as though remembering that kiss. His expression was almost dreamy, lost in that young soldier’s first stirrings of love.

“But he wouldn’t stop with just a little kiss on the lips.” Iron Bull forced his other arm up on the ledge because it wanted to dive right back down into his lap. “He’s got you right where he wants you. He wouldn’t waste the opportunity. Where else would he kiss you?”

Cole’s fingers trembled as they traveled down his mouth and along his neck to reach the dip in his collarbone, his legs lowering back down to the ground. “Here?” 

“Sure, he’d be tender at first. Ease you into it.” Iron Bull watched Cole trace the sharp line of his collarbone with the barest tips of his fingers. “But he has needs too. Does he go lower?”

“Yes,” Cole’s voice trembled at the idea. His fingers immediately slid down to one nipple in the water and he gasped as though it was a surprise. “He kisses me here.”

“A kiss? What about a little bite? Just to see how you react.”

“Oh, yes, that. Brief and bright pain that blossoms into pleasure.” Cole pinched himself, probably too hard, and moaned. He rubbed over the red skin soothingly. His eyes opened and he looked down in surprise at his thickening cock. He reached for it.

“Not yet,” Iron Bull told him and Cole froze, sucking in a deep breath. “He’s still exploring. He’s a patient man. He wouldn’t be so quick.”

“But I want him to be quick,” Cole protested, fitfully moving his legs in the water.

“Sometimes it’s better to take it nice and slow.” Iron Bull clenched his fists on the ground. “It makes the end even better.”

Cole gave him a disbelieving look that was so fitting for a hormonal young man in his situation that Iron Bull had to grin at him. 

“Keep going. Where else?” Iron Bull prompted him.

“Where else?” Cole repeated. He stared down the long length of his body as though in a daze, eyes lingering on his cock like it belonged to someone else. 

Iron Bull took pity on him. This was his first real time at this. “You have nice legs. I’ll bet he’d like to get his hands on them. Start at the calves and work your way up.”

“Yes, that would be nice,” Cole said, breathing out. He placed one of his long-fingered hands on a well-muscled calf, stroking lightly and moving up with deliberate slowness. He shivered when he reached the underside of his knee and then shivered harder when his hand trailed up the inside of his thigh. He sighed as he stroked the soft skin there and then gasped when he pinched at it, the sound turning into a moan halfway through.

“That’s good,” Iron Bull told him. “I think he’s teased you enough.”

He watched with a lidded eye as Cole quickly took his cock in hand and then jumped as though he’d been stabbed.

“Does it feel different this time?” 

“Yes,” Cole said with whimper, stroking himself with timid fingers. Even those light touches made him jerk and cry out. He stopped, panting. 

“Don’t stop,” Iron Bull commanded and Cole began again, still making those hurt noises.

“It was easier when you touched me,” Cole said in a shuddery voice. He stretched his legs out as he continued sliding his fingers along his stiff cock. “I didn’t have to make my hands listen to me when I can’t think. It’s too much together!”

“You’re doing just fine.” Iron Bull drank in the sight of him, pale skin reddened from the hot water and his exertions, his body opening to him like a gift. He could go over there right now. He could finally put a hand to his own aching cock and pull until his seed was covering Cole’s open, gasping mouth.

“Yes, please!” Cole groaned low in his throat and came in a frantic rush. He shook in the water as the aftershocks from his climax ran through him.

Iron Bull leaned back again, hands still firmly planted on the ground. He watched Cole gulp in air with a predatory interest. He looked so human in the aftermath. It was easy to forget what he really was.

Finally Cole collected himself enough to fix his eyes on him, immediately zeroing in on his massive erection. 

“Let me help you,” he said and stood in the spring.

“No,” Iron Bull said, his voice even and certain.

“But it hurts! I can feel the hurting and I know I can help.” Cole was fidgeting with his fingers in his distress.

“This was about you. I can help myself. You get back to camp and apologize to the Boss for making him worry.”

“All right,” Cole said reluctantly. He turned around and pulled himself out of the spring in a smooth gesture that brought attention to his firm, rounded ass. Iron Bull grunted.

“I could help though,” Cole muttered almost petulantly as he got dressed. “Mouth and tongue slick against hot skin as it pushes past, pull out at the last moment and mark pale skin with pale spending.”

“Get. Going.” Iron Bull crossed his arms and sternly watched Cole head back to camp. He was a bit of a handful. Of course, so was he. Iron Bull finally took his cock in one of those hands and began searching for his own release. It was almost immediately around the corner and he wished that he could be surprised that teaching Cole how to pleasure himself turned him on this much. It made his mind race with the possibilities of teaching him everything else.

Iron Bull went back to camp a little later, after he had time to think about what had transpired over the past few days. Cole wasn’t human and he supposed it was time he stopped expecting him to have human reactions to things. It made the last of his guilt settle into a manageable size that he could safely shove into the back of his mind.

Lavellan lectured Cole for close to an hour that night while Varric stood close by with a relieved expression on his face.

“I’m sorry that I made you worry,” Cole said. “I wanted to think my own thoughts and everyone else has been so upset and loud inside. The Iron Bull taught me how to think in a new way and it was wonderful.”

Iron Bull had buried most his guilt but he still felt like shrinking a bit when Lavellan and Varric turned suspicious eyes on him. He pursed his lips and glared back. They wouldn’t have wanted to show Cole how to get himself off and he’d needed it.

The next few days of travel went by like a surreal blur. Apparently Iron Bull had broken a seal by teaching Cole how to masturbate because it seemed like every time anybody turned a corner they caught him at it. Lavellan had found him tucked into a dark cave and had turned so red under his tattoos that Cole had thought there was something wrong with him. Varric had caught him in his tent of all places, reading one of his books one-handed. That had gotten him a lecture about personal spaces and what people shouldn’t do in them when they weren’t theirs.

One of the more interesting situations occurred when one of the young scouts caught him at it and apparently offered to give him a hand. Cole had disappeared in a fit of uncertainty and crawled into Iron Bull’s arms that night with a troubled expression on his face.

“What’s got you so worked up?” Iron Bull grumbled, trying to settle Cole down so he could sleep. It was thoroughly distracting to have Cole wriggling against him.

“Scout Marden wants to have sex with me,” he said quickly, sounding shocked.

“Is that the little one with the black hair?”

“Yes, she thinks I have a nice mouth and she wants me to kiss her between her legs.” Cole squirmed in his surprise.

“You do have a nice mouth.” Iron Bull chuckled. “And I don’t think she wants you to just kiss her between her legs.”

“Should I?” Cole asked very quietly.

Iron Bull blinked and turned his head towards him. The kid looked completely shell-shocked at the notion. “If you want to.”

“Would it help her? Like you helped me?”

“Look, Kid.” Iron Bull sat up, pulling Cole up with him. “I know helping people is your favorite activity but you get to decide when and why you have sex. You don’t have to just because someone wants you to but you can if that’s what you want. Do you want to have sex with Scout Marden?”

“No,” he said after a minute.

“Then don’t. She deserves to find someone that really wants to be between her legs and isn’t just going along with it to help.”

“Do you really want to be between my legs?”

Tricky little shit. Iron Bull grabbed his face in one big hand and kissed him soundly. When he pulled away Cole looked hopeful.

“I want to fuck you so hard every spirit in the Fade will feel it.” Iron Bull pulled away when Cole leaned up for another kiss. “But that’s not going to happen until we get back to Skyhold and it’s only going to happen there if you decide it’s what you really want. You’re experiencing a lot of new things right now. Just think about them a little before you make up your mind.”

“I will, The Iron Bull.” Cole settled back down on the bedroll with him and snuggled in close. “You would have made a good Tama.”

Iron Bull pondered the impossibility of that for a moment and then decided that he would have been a fucking great Tamassran. He went to sleep with that strange thought in his mind.


	3. But the Sea Is Changeless

“Finally.” Varric breathed out a sigh of relief as they passed through Skyhold’s gates. He nodded to Lavellan. “Do me a favor and don’t need me for a while.”

“Deal,” Lavellan said and glanced over to Cole. He was staring at Iron Bull with an expectant expression on his face. “Cole, come with me. I’m going to talk to the Advisors and then I want your help with something.”

Cole turned to Lavellan, his cheeks turning pink. “All right.”

Iron Bull chuckled. Hopefully Cole would know better than to tell Commander Cullen about his tender fantasy but if not Iron Bull would be disappointed that he wasn’t there to see the look on the man’s face. It would be almost as pretty as his pretty face. 

As Lavellan walked away he glanced back at Iron Bull briefly but the look on his face told him everything he needed to now. He knew that the Inquisitor was going to try to keep Cole away from him but he didn’t mind for now. He needed time to think and prepare anyway. He continued on by himself to the courtyard.

“Chief,” Krem greeted him, leaning with one of his arms pressed to the wall beside the door to the tavern. He was visibly flexing. Scout Harding was standing beside him, her serene face brighter than usual.

“Krem,” Iron Bull said and then winked elaborately at him before nodding his head at Harding.

“Subtle,” Harding murmured as Iron Bull entered the tavern.

His first stop was at the bar where he ordered a well-deserved drink. He downed it quickly, trying to bury the last of his tension under purpose and good, strong beer. He wouldn’t go crazy with the alcohol though. He needed a clear head tonight.

Next he greeted what Chargers were around and made sure that they all had proper drinks in their hands. He was pleased to see that Dalish had two and was downing both like a pro. She was always a treat when she was properly soused. His boys made their complaints to Krem so that he could enjoy their good sides. Or as close to a good side as Skinner had. 

She was currently making mean moon eyes at a friendly stable-hand. Her type was nice elves that her mother would have liked her to bring home if she hadn’t been tragically murdered by humans. However Skinner was terrible at approaching them. She generally frightened potential lovers away like a bloodthirsty wolf trying to mate with a halla. 

When he felt like he’d relaxed enough with his Chargers he made his way to the top of the tavern and glanced around. Over the years his observational training had taught him how to paint an almost complete picture of a person just from where they spent most of their time. Cole apparently liked standing in a dark corner with only a chest and some barrels and broken boxes for company. There was a copy of one of Varric’s books on a box. It wasn’t one of his better ones. Not that Iron Bull made a habit of reading the dwarf’s trashy books.

He paused a moment and reached for the chest. He wasn’t surprised that it was unlocked. Inside there was mostly trash, bits of twine, a couple of dark feathers, and a startled mouse that scurried under a bloody cloth as he peered inside.

Iron Bull sat down on one of the boxes and considered it all. He’d expected this but the temporary feel to Cole’s personal space still pulled at him a bit. The kid was still always ready to be completely forgotten by everyone at a moment’s notice. He went back down to the bar and got another strong drink, nursing it slowly as he watched the day fade into night.

When he felt like it was time he went over to Krem, who had returned to his usual spot but kept an interested eye open every time someone opened the door to the tavern. Iron Bull laid a heavy hand on his broad shoulder.

“I’m going to need privacy tonight. Make sure no one needs me,” he told him and Krem just nodded, drinking deep from his bottle.

The best exchange he’d ever made in his life was giving up one perfectly good eye for a lousy Vint. When everything had calmed down a bit he was going to give him no end of shit over his flirting with that cute dwarf scout. Krem could lift ten of her in one hand and still fight a bear with his other.

He went to his room and was unsurprised to see that Cole was already there. He was sitting on his bed with his knees up to his chest and his hands wrapped around them. When Iron Bull shut and locked the door behind him Cole sat up straighter on the bed. 

Iron Bull made his way over to his comfortable Fereldan armchair and sat down heavily. It felt good. He’d been so sore for weeks and his leg was aching deep to the bone. He leaned forward and eyed the kid for a few moments. Cole just stared back, playing with his fingers.

“You finally got away from the Boss,” Iron Bull said.

“Yes. He talked to Josephine and Leliana and Cullen for over an hour and then we went up to his room where Dorian was waiting for him.” Cole appeared disgruntled, his words stumbling over each other. “He said that he needed help from me but he just made Dorian cut my hair and I had to take another bath and then we played Wicked Grace three times. He wanted me to sleep on his couch tonight but Dorian said he would scream if he didn’t let me go and why was he fussing over me like a nanny, I didn’t even need to sleep. And then they started fighting and I left. He didn’t need me at all.”

“You know why he wanted to keep you with him?” Iron Bull settled back in his chair and laced his fingers together.

Cole peered down at the comforter on the bed. “He didn’t want me to be here.”

Iron Bull nodded. “Why?”

“He thinks you’re going to take advantage of me. He thinks,” Cole paused, his eyes focusing inward, “Iron Bull is a good man but he doesn’t always think things through. Cole doesn’t know what he’s doing and he’s going to get hurt.”

Cole turned his fierce gaze to Iron Bull. “But I do know what I’m doing! I understand. Give them what they need, be kind but keep your distance. Don’t let them think it’s more than it is. Be honest even when you lie. It’s your way of helping and I want it.”

“Good. I’m glad you understand.” Iron Bull wasn’t sure that anybody else would describe what he did as helping but he’d always thought of it as that and he was happy to hear Cole agree.

“But,” Cole tucked himself in tighter within his own arms. “I don’t want people to think bad things about you because of me, because they don’t understand that I understand.”

“That’s not your problem,” Iron Bull said. “I’m the only Qunari within a hundred miles. People already think bad things about me. I don’t let that decide what I do and what I should want. If I want you and you want me, that’s all that I care about. The Boss will learn to live with it and everybody else will take their lead from him.”

“A Tevinter magister and a Dalish Keeper, it’s the first line in a bad joke. You can’t expect Cole to rise above your own horrible example. Plus there are possibly worse choices than Iron Bull out there. Possibly,” Cole said in Dorian’s crisp, clear accent.

“Aw, I knew that Vint liked me after all.” Iron Bull chuckled and then his face turned serious. “Now if you really want to do this, we need to set up some ground rules.”

Cole breathed out hard and nodded just the tiniest bit. “Rules to protect and provide.”

“Yes. I want you to pick a word, one that you can remember that you wouldn’t normally say. If you ever feel uncomfortable you can say that word and I’ll stop whatever I’m doing.”

“The Iron Bull, you can do whatever you want to me.” Cole loosened his hands around his knees and moved closer to Iron Bull’s chair. 

“That’s not the answer I’m looking for, Kid.” Iron Bull set his hands palm-down onto his legs. This was going to be as complicated as he’d thought. “This is about both of us. I never want to learn that you let me do something to you that made you scared or uncomfortable just because I wanted it.”

“That would hurt you?” Cole frowned.

“Of course. In this room, while we’re doing this, you’re mine. And I take good care of what’s mine.”

As he’d suspected his words caused a flush of excitement to trail up Cole’s neck and cheeks. He’d already known that what Cole needed more than anything else was to belong to someone who would make him a priority. He could give that to him within the confines of his bedroom.

Cole glanced down at his hands, bare for once. He thought for a long time. “Spire. It’s already a ruined word so saying it if I’m frightened won’t hurt it.”

“Spire. All right. You keep that word in your head and know that you can always say it no matter what.” Iron Bull sat up straighter. “The next rule is very important. While we’re in this room, I don’t want you in anybody’s head but yours unless I say otherwise. I need to trust that everything you’re thinking and feeling is yours.”

Cole swallowed. “My thoughts are bigger with nothing else to surround them and I don’t always know what to do if no one is thinking that I’m being wrong.”

“I know. But I need you in here.” He reached out and pressed his finger to Cole’s forehead. He trailed his hand down until he gripped his bony knee. “That way I know what you’re feeling everywhere else is real.”

“I’ll try,” Cole promised. He set his hands on top of Iron Bull’s giant one.

“I’ll help you,” Iron Bull said, letting his thumb spiral around the underside of Cole’s knee. He leaned forward and kissed him with slow, deliberate exploration. Unlike before Cole kissed him back with uncertainty, clearly unsure what he was supposed to be doing. Iron Bull led him through soft, open-mouthed kisses for a few moments and continued rubbing little circles into his leg.

He pulled away, mostly convinced that Cole was keeping to his word. “Take your clothes off.”

Iron Bull leaned back to watch as Cole shoved off what he suspected was one of Dorian’s shirts. He pushed his clothes off of the bed and set his hat on top of them. Naked on the bed he looked tense and nervous.

“Now put your wrists together and hold them out.” Iron Bull reached into a basket near his bed and withdrew a silken black piece of cloth. Cole pushed out his hands and Iron Bull tied them together in a comfortable tightness. “How does that feel?”

“Soft on the surface but steel underneath. Sometimes it’s the other way around and sometimes it’s hard to tell which is which,” Cole said, rubbing his wrists together. He blinked. “I’m sorry. I disobeyed.”

“That’s okay this time. You’re learning.” Iron Bull kissed him again in reassurance. He pulled out another silk cloth and stood up. “Lean your head forward.”

Cole did and Iron Bull tied the cloth over his eyes. He pressed his lips to the top of his head and let his mouth linger there a moment. He smelled like the fancy Orlesian soaps that Vivienne bought for the Inquisitor. He wouldn’t by the end of the night. The thought made him close his eye in anticipation. 

“Lie down on the bed. On your stomach with your hands towards the front.” Cole moved with no protest and soon his long body was spread out on the bed. Iron Bull let his eye run over him for a moment before getting on the bed. He made room for himself between Cole’s trembling legs and he reached for one of the bottles of oil on his dresser.

“How are you feeling?” Iron Bull poured some of the oil onto his hands.

“I don’t know. I’ve never felt it before. It’s tight and thin and I don’t know what to do.” 

“You don’t have to do anything. Just let me do everything for now.” Iron Bull set his palms on Cole’s shoulders and began rubbing into them. Cole gasped at the first touch but as Iron Bull continued he pressed his cheek to the cover under him and breathed.

Iron Bull massaged his shoulders for a bit. He had a broad frame that promised he could be a large man when he grew older and his youthful lankiness went away. Iron Bull wondered if he would grow older, wondered if he would grow out of being half-starved and the sort of pale that came from being kept away from the sun. He wanted to see it if he did.

“That feels nice, The Iron Bull,” Cole said out of the side of his mouth. “It’s warm on my shoulders but it makes everything else feel warm too.”

Iron Bull hummed in acknowledgement and moved to his back, keeping his motions broad and light. He loved a good rough massage but there was plenty of time for that later. Now he wanted the kid to feel completely relaxed.

His lower back was next and Cole sighed as he reached the dip in his spine. He pressed into it a little harder than above and was rewarded with a small moan.

“I like that the best,” Cole murmured, pressing his spine up into Iron Bull’s hands. He pushed him down with one firm hand and continued stroking his back with the other.

It was hard but he kept his hands brief on his ass, rubbing firmly but moving down as soon as he thought he'd done his work. He didn’t want to get distracted. 

Cole moaned again when he massaged the backs of his upper thighs. The muscles there were thick and strong, jumping when he pressed into them. He let his thumbs dip briefly down across the skin of his inner thighs and Cole began shifting under his hands. Iron Bull was tempted to keep going down but Cole was new at this and likely impatient.

Iron Bull leaned up on his knees. “Turn onto your back. Keep your hands up.”

Cole shifted as quickly as he could, almost kicking Iron Bull as he moved his long legs. Iron Bull smiled when he made a quiet apology, grabbing his ankle and arranging him in a more comfortable position.

Unsurprisingly Cole was already hard from the massage and the friction of the bedcover. He caressed his hips for a moment as he admired his work. Cole was spread out, loose-limbed with relaxation now and flushed pink with arousal. 

“Now how do you feel?” He pulled his legs further apart and up so that they were half-resting on Iron Bull’s spread knees.

“Like the liquid in one of Sera’s jars.” Cole rubbed his wrists together above his head. “She keeps them because they’re bright and pretty. When she was little she saw a woman drop a pretty flower on the ground in the market and leave to kill a dragon.”

Cole pressed his lips together in contrition. “I already knew that. I didn’t learn it now.”

“You’re doing good, Kid,” Iron Bull told him before taking his cock in one hand.

“Oh!” Cole jerked in surprise and Iron Bull held him down with his other hand until he settled. Only then did he start to stroke him with slow, even motions. He kept his touch as light as possible, teasing as he slicked up his hand with more oil. He pressed his thumb against the soft skin around Cole’s hole.

“I’m not untouched and unspoiled.” Cole tried to push himself onto Iron Bull’s thumb and he pulled his hand back, holding him still by his knee. “You’ve already had me split on you, wrenching, reaching, struggling for release.”

“Yep. And I will again, believe me. But this time I’m doing this.” And he continued stroking him with steady, careful movements. “I want you to think about every part of how this feels. Take it all in.”

Cole made an impatient noise deep in his throat but obediently relaxed onto the bed, stretching his bound arms up more so that his fingers were touching the bedpost. He sighed as Iron Bull stroked him to full hardness. Only then did Bull move his thumb back up and carefully pressed it inside him. His thumb was thicker than some human cocks and it stretched Cole enough to make him moan.

He fucked him that way for a bit, gentle strokes along his pulsing erection and a steady pressure into him, slicking him up and caressing. Cole’s breathing was still even but it grew thicker as Iron Bull worked, cataloging his reactions. He’d already been delighted to see that Cole liked a little bit of pain but it pleased him that he enjoyed being pampered. He wanted to spoil him.

“You want a little more than this?” Iron Bull asked, pushing his thumb up more and letting the thumb on his other hand press into the head of his cock, slick and warm.

“Yes, please,” Cole said in his politest voice, as though he was asking for someone to pass him the sugar. “I want you to put your Iron Dragon in me now.”

And Iron Bull laughed belly-deep at that because it was what he’d begun calling his dick, although mostly just in his head and to the pretty, giggling serving girls. “Did you just get that?”

Cole hesitated for a moment. “It’s very hard not to peek inside. You’re all I’m looking at right now and I can’t see you so I slipped trying.”

“I put this on you so that you could really concentrate on what you’re feeling instead of looking to me for how you’re supposed to react.” Iron Bull tapped the soft cloth covering his eyes. “But you broke the rule again so you’re not going to get my Iron Dragon right now. Not until I decide.”

Cole deflated. “Oh.”

Iron Bull’s lips curled and he returned to stroking him evenly. “If you’re good for me and come while we’re doing this, nice and slow, I’ll fuck you after. You’ll be sensitive then though so it might not be what you want.”

“It will,” Cole assured him and then pressed his shoulders firmly to the pillow under him as though preparing to fight. He moved his legs up higher on Iron Bull’s knees. “Please keep going.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now I totally ship Skinner and Merrill and they've never met and will probably never meet. I think it would be adorable but I don't need another rare OTP in the DA fandom, fuck. I just love the idea of mean, angry Skinner giving Merrill presents like dead rabbits and blood magic shit and thinking she's so cute for a high and mighty Dalish.


	4. There Is Nothing to Struggle Against

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't know how old Dalish is supposed to be. Her character model looks young but her voice sounds really old. I like to think that she's a randy old lady who loves traveling with these young, horny shits.

Iron Bull liked Cole’s polite request. This time was about showing Cole that sex could be tender, about showing him that Iron Bull would take good care of him for as long as he needed him. However he’d be lying if he pretended that Cole’s awkward obedience didn’t get him hard. 

He stroked himself once, just to get the taste of it in his system and closed his eye in pleasure. He briefly imagined pressing Cole down into the soft comforter and pushing into him until his soft cries turned choked with pleasure.

Cole’s restless movements on the bed brought him back to the moment and he scolded himself. There would be plenty of time to indulge his fantasies. Now it was time to figure out what Cole’s unknown desires were, to catalogue his sweet reactions until he could take him apart without even thinking.

Iron Bull began stroking him a bit firmer, ratcheting up his breathing before he pressed two fingers against tender flesh. Cole shuddered but didn’t say anything, biting his lip as though he was trying to keep words from flying out.

“Relax,” Iron Bull said firmly and slid his fingers inside. Cole bit his lip harder, swallowing down a strangled gasp. “Don’t try to hold back. I want to hear you.”

“But there are too many feelings in my head and they’re all mine and I don’t know what to do with them,” Cole said in a rush, trying to push down more on Iron Bull’s fingers. He moaned when Iron Bull held him still, moving his other hand away from his erection to grip his hip tightly. His hands twitched above his head.

“Just feel them.” Iron Bull grunted when he felt a raised bump in him. He pressed against it firmly and Cole gasped. “There we go.”

He pulled Cole’s lower body up in one thick arm and eyed his cock thoughtfully. “It’s nice to tell people when you’re about to come so they can make a decision. For the record, I prefer to swallow.”

“What?” Cole asked, dazed and flushed as Iron Bull continued to press into him at a controlled pace. 

Iron Bull grinned a moment before taking him into his mouth, licking him down with ease. He had a nice dick, long and thick, with the sort of responsiveness that only came with youth and inexperience. Iron Bull sucked him for a few sweet minutes, holding him up firmly when he writhed and wriggled from the dual sensations.

“I think. I, The Iron Bull, please. I,” Cole said between pants.

“Hmmm?” Iron Bull knew that the vibration from his voice would send him over the edge but even he didn’t expect the explosiveness of Cole’s orgasm. He kept to his word and swallowed him down, satisfying his curiosity about whether or not he would taste like a man or like something more supernatural. He didn’t know what ghost spunk would actually taste like but Cole just tasted like a human.

He lowered Cole’s shaking body down onto the bed and reached up to pull the blindfold off. Cole blinked owlishly at him and blushed. 

“I’m sorry that I didn’t tell you,” he said in a quiet voice. He looked wonderfully relaxed despite his embarrassment. “I tried to make my voice listen to me but it didn’t want to work correctly.”

“Next time you’ll try harder,” Iron Bull promised. He slid his fingers back into him and Cole jumped in surprise. He judged his reaction to his explorations for a moment before deciding that he could move on. “Now I’m going to keep to my word. Turn around.”

“Yes, The Iron Bull.” Cole immediately flipped around like a crocodile and Iron Bull chuckled at his excitement. 

He pulled him up by his waist and stuck some pillows under him. He admired the sight of Cole being offered up to him like a gift. His neglected cock throbbed at the idea that he would finally be back inside his tight, welcoming body. He rubbed it against his round ass and Cole sighed, his bound hands sliding up again.

Iron Bull raised his hand and enjoyed the anticipation before bringing it down hard on his ass. The skin reddened beautifully and Cole moaned like he was being fucked, relaxing even more into the sheets. Iron Bull was tempted, so very tempted, but instead of spanking him again his pressed his cock to where he was slick and ready and waiting.

“That was for not warning me,” he said and then started pushing slowly inside him.

“Oh, it feels different!” Cole pressed his cheek to the bed and instinctively pressed back. “More slick and smooth, pressing in like a promise, lean body taking in instead of fighting against.”

Iron Bull paused. “Kid.”

“I’m sorry,” Cole gasped. “It was there on the surface, like a smile or a frown.”

“I’m frowning,” Iron Bull said and spanked him again. He growled low in his throat when Cole tightened around him in response but he managed to still his motions. “Stop reading my mind.”

“I’m trying,” Cole wailed, trying to push against him. “Thoughts are like words, they just come and go. Your thoughts are wonderful, light and kind on the surface but firm and strong underneath. I like them.”

“I’m flattered, Kid. But you agreed to my rules. If you keep reading my mind I’m going to stop and we’re going to spend the rest of the night talking about why.” Iron Bull meant what he said but he really, really hoped he wouldn’t have to follow through with it.

“No! I’m here. I’ll only be here and you’ll be here in body instead of in mind and I can do it, The Iron Bull, I promise. Please don’t stop. It feels so good.”

“You promised.” Iron Bull centered his hips and began fucking him again, steady and hard. Cole sighed in relief, collapsing back down onto the bed and letting him move at his own speed.

Curious Iron Bull felt beneath then and was impressed that Cole was already half-hard again. Humans rarely had a refractory period that could match a Qunari. Cole whimpered when he fondled him and let out a disappointed moan when he stopped. He supposed it wasn’t fair to tease him when the kid couldn’t touch himself but this was his time and he loved to see his lovers reduced to quivering messes.

“This is how it should have been,” Iron Bull said but knew he was probably just being optimistic. He might never have had him here like this if it hadn’t been for those fucking slavers. He was happy that their corpses were being pulled apart by wild dogs but he supposed it had turned out pretty well.

“Please touch me,” Cole begged. “Please, please make me come again. I’ll warn you this time.”

“This is my turn,” Iron Bull said calmly, still fucking into him with slow deliberation. “I could do this for hours.”

“No, I don’t want hours, I want now.” Cole sounded almost distraught at the idea. 

“I want you to be good. You agreed to be a good demon for me. And good little demons let their masters take their time.” 

“Oh!” Cole jerked at the word masters and tightened around him enough that he had to stop. He kept gasping out familiar sounds of pleasure and when Iron Bull felt under him he was unsurprised to pull back a slick hand. He hauled his hand back and spanked him again.

“What did you do wrong?” Iron Bull asked and readied his hand.

“I,” Cole rubbed his face against the comforter, shivering. He sounded pleased. “I came without warning you when I said I wouldn’t.”

“And what does that make you?”

Cole paused, considering. His voice was hesitant, “Bad?”

“Yep. A bad little demon. You’re lucky I’m patient.” Cole shivered again. Iron Bull didn’t know if it was from his words or because he’d started moving in him again, this time faster and with an eye towards his own end. He reached down, gripping Cole’s neck and keeping him pressed down into the comforter as he fucked him hard. “Next time I should tie you to this bed and take you until you pass out. You can tell all your friends in the Fade what a Qunari fucks like.”

“Yes, anything you want. I’ll be good for you, The Iron Bull. I’ll be a good demon for my master,” Cole said and his words definitely lit a fire under Iron Bull. His hips pistoned into him fiercely until he came, gripping his hips tight so that he could get every last drop of his seed into him.

The next few hours passed like haze, sweat-soaked and pleasure-filled. True to his word Cole managed to keep out of Iron Bull’s head but he was still slow to complete obedience. Despite his shy nature and desire to please, Iron Bull knew that Cole had a feral streak of aggression in him. He didn’t know if he had inherited it from the original Cole or if it was inherent in a spirit but it challenged him in a way he enjoyed. He was going to love mastering him. 

“You’re a kinky guy, Kid,” Iron Bull told him, licking at the slight marks on his thin wrists as he untied the silk scarves. Cole sighed contently, curling around himself and closing his eyes. “Are you actually going to sleep?”

“I sleep sometimes, floating along the top layers around Skyhold until everyone goes deeper in. It’s nice.” Cole yawned. “Sometimes there are parties and tests and falling.”

“You have fun with that. I’ll be right back.” Iron Bull didn’t bother to put his pants on as he slipped out the door. 

He saw Krem immediately, asleep in a chair nearby. Krem woke quickly as he approached and grimaced when he saw him.

“Please, Chief, it’s bad enough I had to hear you use that, I don’t need to see it.” Krem tilted his head to the side. “Who you got in there this time? Real firecracker from the sounds of it.”

“Cole,” Iron Bull told him and almost laughed at the look on his face. “The Boss is probably going to turn me into a nug when he finds out.”

“It’s a surprise but I don’t see why His Worship would object.” Krem already had put on the protective face that said he would fight the Inquisitor over a pit of angry druffalos to defend his honor. It looked pretty similar to his regular face because Krem wasn’t the most expressive guy in the world but Iron Bull knew him well enough to recognize it. It warmed his heart and reaffirmed once again how happy he was that he hadn’t given up his boys.

“Hmmm, it’s complicated.” Briefly Iron Bull told him what had happened when he was away. “So the Boss is worried I might be confusing the kid.”

Krem raised his eyebrow and said everything without opening his mouth.

“He’s not confused,” Iron Bull said firmly. “He’s not human and he’s a freak in the sheets and I’m terrified he might eat my brain one night when I’m feeling really relaxed but he’s not confused about this. The Boss treats him like cute stray but he opened the door to this with that weird magical amulet shit. Cole just decided to walk through it.” 

Krem raised his eyebrow higher and said more, mouth crooked into a smirk.

“Shut up, Vint. You all think you’re so clever. Go be a useful right hand for once and get me some more water. I’ve been working hard.”

Cole stayed the entire night, passed out against him like a ragdoll. He drooled in his sleep, which was not cute, but the soft yawns as he woke up the next morning were. Iron Bull had been awake for hours and was finishing up his morning rituals. He carefully painted his face in the mirror and winked at Cole when he caught him staring at him.

“I like the green stuff the best but this black vitaar works great.”

“It burns people but not you.” Cole pressed into the marks on his wrists and lowered his eyes. “I already knew that from Dorian’s books. He reads aloud to annoy Solas below.”

“That sounds like him.” Iron Bull nodded to the steaming tub next to the bed. “I already took a bath this morning after I put my boys through a few drills so we’ll have to try tub fucking some other day. But you get in and have yourself a relaxing soak. You worked a lot of new muscles last night.”

Cole actually pouted. “Are you going to make me take lots of baths now too?”

Iron Bull clucked at him. “Listen to me, Kid. It’ll feel good. You haven’t tried to get up yet but trust me, you’re going to be sore everywhere.”

The look on Cole’s face was still doubtful but when he gingerly got out of bed, wincing slightly as he stood, he eagerly slid into the hot bath. He sighed with pleasure at the water and astoundingly Iron Bull felt that noise go straight to his dick. He bounded over to him and gripped the back of his neck. “Fuck, Kid. You’re going to kill me.”

“You said you already took a bath,” Cole said in confusion. “Are you changing your mind?”

“Nope.” Iron Bull kissed him lightly. “You can stay here as long as you want. I’ve got to go meet up with the Boss about sending the Chargers out to Haven again. Fucking bandits have taken it over.”

“Are you going to tell him?” Cole splashed some of the water, avoiding his gaze. “Are you going to tell him that I belong to you when we’re in here?”

“I’m probably not going to say it like that, but yeah, I’m going to tell him.” Iron Bull kissed him again because Cole looked worried. “He won’t be happy but I promise he’ll get over it, Kid. He’s our friend.” 

The Inquisitor was not happy. In fact he spent a good hour yelling at Iron Bull, largely in Dalish near the end because he’d forgotten the Common Tongue in his ire. Iron Bull sat on the couch next to Dorian in the Inquisitor’s bedroom as he listened to him. It was really a beautiful language. He should try learning it one day.

“Impressive,” Dorian said to Iron Bull in a loud mock-whisper. “Normally you have to track mud in or move an ugly vase somewhere it can be less ugly to get this sort of reaction.”

Lavellan ended his rant, breathing out heavily. He glared at Dorian. “Of course you don’t see a problem with this.”

“Honestly, I’m amazed that I’m the only one that doesn’t seem to have a problem with this. I don’t even like the Qunari—no offense—but Iron Bull sleeps with everybody that looks his way. Why should Cole get left out just because you’re upset?”

“Cole should be upset!” Lavellan was turning purple again and Iron Bull decided he should say something before the elf passed out.

“Well, he’s not. You can tell him he’s not reacting the right way, you can make him take a million weird supervised baths, and you can even put a dog leash on him when you take him out if you think it’ll make you feel better, but we’re going to keep doing what we’re doing. He made his choice and I’m honoring it.”

Iron Bull stood up. “Now I’m going to go have a farewell drink with my boys and then go fuck my demon. Probably twice. I don’t know, that dog leash thing really worked me up.” 

“Interesting idea,” Dorian murmured and Iron Bull winked at him. He knew that sexy Vint was a kink.

“I don’t want to hear that,” Lavellan covered his eyes, blushing. Finally he sighed and looked Iron Bull straight on. “Just, please be careful. I don’t want him to regret what I made him.”

“He made himself what he is. You just helped him decide it was the right choice.”

“Right,” Lavellan relented softly.

Dorian stood up, smoothing out the wrinkles in his robes with a practiced hand. “I think you said you were leaving, Bull. The Inquisitor and I need to discuss those weird supervised baths now that I know Cole is not the innocent I thought he was.”

Lavellan was sputtering out protests as Iron Bull left the room. 

That evening Iron Bull was drinking with the Chargers, laughing with them and feeling so good about the world that he thought he might just pop open. Dalish was telling everyone a wild story from her younger days and Iron Bull was not having it.

“Bullshit, Dalish! There’s no way you had a threesome with the Hero of Ferelden and some Antivan elf.”

“It’s the truth, Chief. I was staying with a Dalish clan temporarily while I traveled to Denerim and the Warden visited them. She had just ended the Blight and wanted the Keeper to bless her union with her Antivan lover. The Keeper refused, some nonsense about him not really being Dalish or maybe something about assassins, I wasn’t listening. So I told them that I would do it and they agreed.” Dalish grinned slyly. “Of course I embellished the ceremony a bit. They were both very open to my interpretations.” 

Iron Bull snorted in disbelief. “No fucking way. Kid, get down here and settle this for me!”

Cole dropped from the third floor like he’d been dragged down and hesitated when the Chargers turned to look at him. He lowered his head, hiding his face under his hat. Iron Bull gestured at him and patted his lap. “Come here, Kid. I need your freaky mind powers right now.”

“You want me to read your mind now?” Cole asked in a confused tone but obediently settled onto Iron Bull’s lap. 

“Not my mind.” Iron Bull bounced him on his lap impatiently and Cole’s eyes went wide. “Dalish is spinning more of her shit and I want you to call her out on it. She says she had crazy wedding sex with the Hero of Ferelden and her assassin lover.”

Cole blinked and turned to Dalish, who just smiled at him coyly. She propped her chin up onto her hands and fluttered her eyelashes at him. “Look all you like, child. I’ve got nothing to hide. I’m just a simple, old Dalish archer.”

“Angry at their refusal, not because they refused but because they denied his blood even after he’d spilled it for the world. He said it didn’t matter, made a joke about it that sounded filthy, but there was hurt lingering in there and that was not acceptable.” Cole swallowed and looked up at Iron Bull. “She’s telling the truth. It was a very nice ceremony and they all had sex. Dalish cried.”

“Weddings always do make me cry.” Dalish dabbed at her eyes with a napkin. “Such a lovely couple.”

“Damn.” Iron Bull leaned back, wrapping his arm around Cole’s waist and arranging him in a more comfortable position on his lap. “I’m impressed.”

“Can you read anyone’s mind?” Rocky asked curiously, leaning over his beer. 

“Yours is harder. Dwarves are quieter inside, nestled in the Stone instead of floating in the Fade. Only pieces make their way out. First successful explosion, Mother’s proud face, kissing that human barmaid to celebrate and fighting her angry lover.” Cole was playing with his shirt sleeve as he talked, looking at Iron Bull’s knee.

“I do like the tall ones,” Rocky said with a leer. “More to explore.”

“Hey, hey, I have an idea.” Iron Bull nudged Cole excitedly. He pointed to Grim. “Tell us if that asshole really is a prince somewhere.”

Grim grunted. Cole turned to look at him and the two stared at each other for a profoundly creepy few minutes. Finally Cole turned away. 

“I can’t tell you,” Cole said finally.

“What? Traitor.” Iron Bull bounced him again. Cole gasped and Iron Bull paused. His eye turned dark as he leaned over and kissed him. He murmured huskily, “Bet I could get it out of you.”

“Well, I’m out,” Krem said decisively, standing up. “We’re leaving early in the morning, Chargers, so find who you’re going to spend the night with and get to it.”

Iron Bull pulled away from his explorations so he could address that little opening. “You made a move on Scout Harding yet? Or are you still flexing around her in the hopes that she’ll jump into your big arms without you having to say anything?”

“A gentleman never tells,” Krem said.

“She kissed him under the light of the moon in the courtyard because she’s too busy to dance around it. He’s going to bring her a drink and read her Tevinter poetry but she’s planning on ripping his armor off.”

The Chargers hooted in appreciation.

“ _Fasta vaas_ ,” Krem swore but there was a spring in his step as he hurried away.

Iron Bull laughed and gathered Cole up in his arms. “Don’t get yourself killed, boys. I want my demon to learn all your embarrassing secrets.”

“And we want to learn all of yours, Chief,” Stitches said. The Chargers cheered and began singing.

“I think I’m going to keep you,” Iron Bull said as he ascended the steps to his room, nuzzling Cole’s neck as he kicked his door open.

“I would like that.” Cole wrapped his hands around his horns and pulled. “I like belonging to you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wanted to say that even though I'm not great at responding to comments I really appreciate each and every one of them. They fill me with embarrassed delight and I lose all ability to do anything but squeal in joy that somebody is reading what I'm writing. You're all super great and I thank you from the bottom of my heart.


	5. Victory Is In the Qun (Sometimes)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This takes place three years after the last part. I'm planning on the next story picking up from both times and going back and forth. I'm getting in over my head here. Someone should stop me. Send help and the fluffiest of fluffy puppies to distract me away from writing.
> 
> Also I wish there was a separate category for background pairings. I'd love include them in the tags but I find it annoying when I'm searching for a pairing and it turns out to be a brief mention in a few lines of another ship. I've got real problems here, people.

“We will keep your words in mind, General.” The Tevinter scout leaned his head forward respectfully. “I hope you will do the same and trust that we had no part in your Divine’s disappearance. We want only peace with the Inquisition. Our alliance is precious to us all.” 

“Of course,” Iron Bull said, not rising out of his chair. He nodded to the tent entrance. “Feel free to have a hot meal before my boys guide you back to your camp. For your protection.”

“You honor me, General Iron Bull.” The scout bowed and left with a swish of his brightly-colored robes.

Iron Bull let himself slouch farther into his chair, pondering the situation before him. The alliance forged between the Tevinter Imperium and the Inquisition in the two years since the Inquisitor’s victory over Corypheus was as fragile as it had been unexpected. He really didn’t want to be the one that rocked the boat now. But the evidence against the Imperium was mounting.

There was a pointed tinkling of bells to his left.

“He’s lying,” Cole said and despite the trouble they were in Iron Bull had to grin a bit at his tone. Only Cole could slit a man’s throat with no hesitation but sound distressed at the idea that someone might be not be truthful when it mattered.

“Of course he’s lying. The question is what he’s lying about.” Iron Bull pinned Cole with a penetrating look. “Does he know where Red is?”

Cole shook his head fretfully, setting off the small collection of bells Stitches had sewn into the top of his hat. It hadn’t been the collar Iron Bull had been hoping for but Cole liked it and that mattered more.

“But he doesn’t want peace! The words stuck in his throat like dead waters, foul and rank, forced out while he thought of burning the tent around you.” Cole flicked out one of his knives. “We shouldn’t let him go back to them!”

“We’re sending him back safe and with a belly full of Grim’s cooking. It’ll bother him more than chaining him up,” Iron Bull said but Cole still looked mutinous at the thought of releasing him. Iron Bull sighed and decided to try a different tactic. He let his voice drop low. “What am I thinking?”

“What are you thinking?” Cole repeated, his face losing some of its tension as he responded to this familiar prompt. He’d been trained well over their few years together.

Cole dropped to his knees in front of him, sliding up between Iron Bull’s relaxed legs. He slid his hands on top of his thick thighs and stared up like Iron Bull was going to tell him a bedtime story. 

“You’re thinking that you want me here, on my knees, eager, wanton, serving you like a good demon should.” Cole reached forward but then drew back sharply. He glanced over at Iron Bull’s leg and his tone changed again. “Your knee hurts.”

“It’s a bit stiff,” Iron Bull said, reaching down to pull Cole’s hat off. In his hand the bells jangled like a tiny band and Iron Bull was once again impressed that normally they didn’t make a single noise on Cole’s head, even in the thick of battle.

“It hurts,” Cole insisted, almost pouting in his insistence. “You didn’t put the poultice on when you should. It’s angry when you don’t, burning and twisting close to the bone.”

“I’ve been busy.” Iron Bull spread his hand out on the bright gold of Cole’s hair, clipped unevenly this time. Rocky must have been soused when he’d sat him down. “Why don’t you make it feel better, kadan?” 

Cole set his mouth in a thin, unhappy line but Iron Bull just stroked his hair until he finally turned his head and gently kissed his knee right where the agony was at its peak.

Iron Bull chuckled. “Not exactly what I had in mind, Kid.”

“That’s what Varric did when Hawke fell and hurt her elbow. She cried and cried until he kissed it. Then she felt better and Varric read her a story about Cassandra.” Cole paused, thinking. “She’s nicer in his stories.”

Iron Bull laughed again, pulling Cole up and into his lap. He’d been in the tavern when little Hawke had been playing on the battlements. She’d been trying to mimic Cassandra’s lunges when she’d fallen and screamed so loud that everybody had run out to them. Varric had swooped in and made it better so easily that Cassandra had been stuck glaring at him with furious fondness as he read their daughter a story about a beautiful Seeker’s exploits fighting demons and dragons. 

“I think Varric is trying to give Cassandra a hint.” Iron Bull wrapped his arms around Cole’s shoulders, pondering the only couple in Skyhold that could surprise people almost as much as them. Personally he hadn’t been that surprised when they’d fallen into bed together but he had been shocked when that one time had turned into several until finally he’d gotten a look at his first human-dwarf baby up close. She’d seemed terrifyingly small in his large arms. 

Cole leaned his head on Iron Bull’s shoulder and closed his eyes. “You’re tired and sore and you want to go home.”

“I’m just getting older, kadan,” Iron Bull murmured, happy that he apparently thought of Skyhold as home. He pressed his mouth to Cole’s head, teasing in his voice. “Maybe you should find a younger man to take care of you.”

“No!” Cole said, opening his eyes and gripping Iron Bull’s shoulder harness. “I want you.”

“Hmmm, that so?” Iron Bull let his hand slid up Cole’s leg and between his leather-clad thighs. “How bad do you want me?”

“Oh.” Cole let his head fall forward as Iron Bull began stroking him over the tight leather. His hand slid up from its white-knuckled grip on his harness to the Iron Bull’s horn.

“Come on, Kid, I asked you a question.” Iron Bull pressed against him a little harder and let his lips curl when Cole moaned. He was half-hoping that the Tevinter scout would hear him wind Cole up and take the gossip back to his superiors. All the Tevinters they’d been working with since the alliance were too interested in the demon the Inquisitor kept in his group. He wanted them to know Cole wasn’t theirs to study and exploit. He’d already crossed that hurdle with his own people. 

“I always want you very badly,” Cole said simply, swinging his legs around so that he was straddling Iron Bull’s lap. Iron Bull’s relaxed position in the chair meant that he had to stretch his long legs out further than was probably comfortable but Cole didn’t seem to notice as he leaned up to kiss him, soft despite his words.

Iron Bull slid his hands down his back and gripped his ass in an almost casual way. He really hadn’t intended to have this kind of a diversion while they were in dangerous territory but it was a nice distraction. He’d been working hard for weeks following Leliana’s trail, trying to figure out if the Divine had been captured or had slipped away on her own. He hadn’t shared his thoughts with Lavellan but he hoped that it was the former situation. They’d never be able to find her if she had decided to disappear.

“I’m sorry I don’t know,” Cole murmured against his mouth, wrapping his arms around Bull’s neck.

“That’s not your fault,” Iron Bull said. If anything it was his fault. He’d worked hard over the years to drill the idea of boundaries into Cole’s head so that he would stop going into everybody else’s head when it wasn’t appropriate. Sometimes when he was feeling uncharacteristically lonely for his homeland he would wonder if he was training Cole to be a tool instead of his submissive lover.

Iron Bull kissed Cole fiercely before he could hear his opinion on those thoughts. Now was definitely not the time to examine that issue. He was a Tal-Vashoth bedding a demon and any doubts would not help him complete his mission for the Inquisition. 

Cole moaned into his kiss, letting him explore his mouth with practiced thoroughness. Iron Bull knew what made him hot, what he needed to do to twist him into an aching, desperate creature. He pulled at the bottom of his shirt until Cole pulled away long enough to yank it off. Cole returned to his mouth immediately, making little noises as Iron Bull squeezed him, his thick fingers pressing leather against sensitive flesh.

“Go get the oil,” Iron Bull ordered, nodding to the table across the tent. It was fancy stuff, a gift from a smirking Dorian one day when he saw Cole limping around the tavern. He’d given it to Iron Bull with flourish and a snide remark about rushing things under the Qun. He’d been tempted to turn the mage over his lap and show him exactly why Cole was limping but he’d behaved himself.

“We don’t need it, do we?” Cole pressed his body down onto him and Iron Bull growled at the feel of him against his thickening cock. He was aroused by his words and by the reminder that Cole loved the pain and friction of being filled too quickly and too roughly. He went crazy with the burn of a cock in him, with being taken with less care than Iron Bull preferred.

“Yeah, we do,” Iron Bull said. He got pretty hot himself when he indulged Cole’s kinks but there was a time and a place for them. “I need you at your best right now. Skinner will leave you behind if you slow her down while you’re scouting tomorrow.”

“No, she wouldn’t,” Cole argued but slid off of Iron Bull’s lap and turned around. Iron Bull let his eye travel up the long line of Cole’s back, thicker now with muscle than it’d been the first time he’d seen it. He’d never be as large a man as his frame suggested, whether from the borrowed memories of malnourishment or an unspoken preference, but he’d grown out a bit from his lankiest days. At the very least he no longer startled strangers with a gaunt appearance. However his staring blue eyes still made people uneasy, especially since Rocky had hacked off most of the hair over them in a moment of artistic flair. Iron Bull was just happy that he didn’t have hair for the dwarf to practice his second passion on.

“Take the rest of that off.” Iron Bull slapped his ass and grinned when it made Cole rush over to the table. He reached down and loosened his own belt, pushing down his trousers enough to free his cock. He stroked it firmly as he watched Cole shakily push down his leathers. Thankfully his filling out hadn’t done anything to change the firm curves of his ass and Iron Bull stared hungrily as Cole rummaged through the table to find the little bottle. The container was even made of some delicate crystal that shimmered in the firelight. Iron Bull shook his head. That Vint was too much. He almost felt bad for Lavellan.

Cole returned to him quickly, eying his cock with open desire. He fell to his knees once again, putting his hand over Iron Bull’s lazy fist and licking around the dripping head. Iron Bull groaned low, relaxing more into the chair as Cole licked at him with almost delicate tongue swipes. 

“You already make it slick enough,” Cole said between careful little licks at the precum slipping down his cock and Iron Bull narrowed his eye at him.

“You’re trying to get in trouble, Kid, but I’m not biting. We do it my way or I’m putting us both to bed and not letting you touch yourself.”

Cole’s wide eyes widened more at the threat and he stood up hastily. He tipped the bottle over his hand and poured out a reasonable amount of the slick oil. Iron Bull moved his hand and half-closed his eye as Cole rubbed it on him, lingering more than was probably necessary. He was about move back onto his lap but Iron Bull clucked at him. 

“Take some for you.” Iron Bull thought about it and his voice thickened with lust at the image. “I want to see you make yourself wet for me.”

“Straining and pressing in, not enough to satisfy but more than enough to stretch and burn.” Cole was trembling a bit as he settled back onto Iron Bull’s knees and reached behind himself. Iron Bull steadied him with firm hands and watched as he pressed three slick fingers into himself. Cole moaned eagerly at the sensation, forgetting the point of it in his desire to move on the pressure. Iron Bull let him ride his fingers for a few minutes, enjoying the show.

“That’s enough,” he said huskily, putting his hand over Cole’s working fingers when he didn’t stop. Cole groaned in protest but removed his hand and let Iron Bull lift him up, his arms going back around his massive shoulders.

Iron Bull lowered him down slowly, steadily and when he pushed through that slick, gripping muscle, Cole keened in sweet pleasure. He kept a tight grip on his hips as he slide him all the way down his cock until he bottomed out. Then Iron Bull moved his hands to Cole’s thighs and leaned back.

“Now be a good demon and take care of me.” 

“Yes, I’ll take care of you,” Cole said earnestly. He moved his hands up to grip Iron Bull’s horns for leverage as he moved himself up slowly and then slid back down with a surprised gasp. They’d fucked hundreds of times over the years but Cole still reacted like it was all new and shocking. He rose up and down a few more unsteady times until he found the rhythm that he liked. Then he went to work, fucking himself on Iron Bull’s cock like a professional and moaning with unrestrained delight.

“That’s my boy,” Iron Bull murmured and Cole cried out at his words like he was hurt, his hips jerking a bit out of rhythm but recovering a moment later. “That’s my good demon-boy.”

“I am yours, only yours, oh, please,” Cole babbled, moving his hips quicker. His hands fell from Iron Bull’s horns to snake around his neck and he hung his head down, panting.

“Don’t come,” Iron Bull said firmly, feeling the way he was tightening around him. There was no better feeling in the world. 

“Please let me,” Cole protested, his breathing coming short and quick now. He was making small, deep movements, forcing him in as far as he could go. He slid one of his hands down Iron Bull’s chest and then grabbed his cock, red and leaking. Iron Bull pulled his hand away and replaced it with his own, gripping him firmly. Cole moaned in frustration.

“Not until I say so.” Despite his words Iron Bull didn’t think he would postpone it much longer. Normally he loved working Cole into an incoherent frenzy, denying him his release until it was shattering. But he was really tired. And they did have to get up early in the morning. Maybe he was getting too old for him.

“Never, The Iron Bull,” Cole murmured in a surprisingly clear voice. “I’ll always want my master.”

Iron Bull’s hips bucked at his words and he kissed him savagely, stroking his aching cock with long, purposeful movements as Cole moaned into his mouth. He met his unsteady motions with his own hard thrusts until Cole was whimpering in desperation.

“Please, please, I’ve been so good,” Cole begged softly.

“Very good,” Iron Bull agreed. “Now.”

Cole cried out in relief and came, spilling over Iron Bull’s hand and tightening around him. He thrust up into him a few more times before following him over the edge, coming with a quiet grunt of satisfaction. Cole clung to him for a few moments after they came, breathing hard into his ear. He whined in protest as Iron Bull pulled him up and off of him.

“Get us cleaned up and ready for bed,” Iron Bull said, rubbing his knee. “And figure out where I put that damn poultice.”

“You left it in your green trousers in the corner,” Cole said almost smugly and Iron Bull slapped his ass again in retaliation. Even so Cole retrieved the poultice along with a towel and came back to his side. He rubbed them both down with the water from the carafe beside them, lowering his eyes in pleasure as he cleaned himself. When he was done he carefully smoothed out a healthy portion of the thick, sharp-smelling poultice onto Iron Bull’s knee. Iron Bull wrinkled his nose in disgust but slid his hand over Cole’s head affectionately as he rubbed it in.

They dressed slowly and Iron Bull pulled Cole back into his lap, letting him snuggle in close. He felt the exhaustion seep into every muscle in his body and he wondered how sore he would be in the morning if he just went to sleep like he was, settled in a comfortable chair with his lover in his arms.

“Chief?” 

Iron Bull grunted, eye popping back open as he turned his head to glare at Krem. The glare faded when he got a good look at his normally unflappable right hand’s face. Krem looked completely shocked. Iron Bull tensed in anticipation.

“What’s going on, Krem? That Vint scout collapse from Grim’s cooking? I know how delicate your people’s stomachs are.” His words were flippant but he felt concern curl inside him. 

Krem actually hesitated. “I don’t know exactly how to say this, Chief, but we have visitors. She says she’s the Hero of Ferelden.”

“What?” Iron Bull snapped and Cole slipped out of his lap, gripping his knives from out of nowhere. “She’s been missing for years and you’re telling me she just walked into my camp in the middle of fucking nowhere?”

“She wants to talk to you.” Krem stood up straighter. 

Iron Bull hurried his way out of his tent, Cole and Krem close behind. He came to a halt at the sight of a small, dark-haired elven woman and a blond elven man with an insouciant expression on his tanned face. The man clapped slowly when he saw him.

“Ah, so it was your chief giving such a magnificent performance. Very engaging.” The man grinned mischievously at Krem and then ran his eyes over Iron Bull’s body openly. “Very, very impressive.”

“I am Warden-Commander Surana of Fereldan and this is my husband Zevran Arainai.” Surana inclined her head to Iron Bull and Zevran bowed smartly. Surana’s pale face was firm as she spoke, “I need you to stop looking for Leliana and go back home. All of Thedas will suffer if you don’t.”

Iron Bull stared at her for a long moment. “Yeah, I’m going to need a lot more than that.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Surana is my dramatic Warden. She practiced those lines for days and Zevran told her that she was a sublime maestro of beauty and desire bubbling over with radiant talent. He wanted to get laid, folks.
> 
> And yes, Varric did name his daughter Hawke after the entire dead Hawke family (in this story universe). And yes, Cassandra made a disgusted noise when he suggested it but he convinced her it was a good idea. With his irresistible charms.
> 
> He bribed her with a book.


End file.
